Michael McFaul

Michael McFaul is "associate professor of political science at Stanford University, where he is also a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he worked for two years as a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Carnegie Moscow Center. One of the world's leading scholars on Russian and U.S.-Russian affairs, Dr. McFaul has authored or coauthored numerous books and monographs, including Between Dictatorship and Democracy: Russian Post-Communist Political Reform (2004) and Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin (2001). During his fellowship, he will conduct a comparative study of countries that have undergone successful democratic breakthroughs and those that have not, paying special attention to the role external actors have played in shaping political outcomes," according to his National Endowment for Democracy (NED) profile.

"Dr. McFaul contributes regular commentary for leading newspapers and television news programs. He served as senior consultant and commentator for CBS News during Russia’s 1995 parliamentary elections and as a commentator and advisor for CNN during the 1996 presidential, 1999 parliamentary, and 2000 presidential elections." 

"Before joining the Stanford faculty in 1995, he worked for two years as a senior associate for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in residence at the Moscow Carnegie Center. Currently he is a non-resident senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment. He co-directs the Hoover Institution's project on Iran. His work focuses on American foreign policy, the political economy of post-communism, and regime change in non-democratic states.

"McFaul serves on the board of directors of numerous organizations including the Eurasia Foundation, the Firebird Fund, the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy, the Institute of Social and Political Studies, the Center for Civil Society International, and the Institute for Corporate Governance and Law. He serves on the steering committee for the Europe and Eurasia division of Human Rights Watch, and on the editorial boards of the journals Current History, the Journal of Democracy, Demokratizatsiya, and Perspectives on European Politics and Society. He has served as a consultant to numerous companies and government agencies." 

Affiliations

 * Deputy Director, Freeman-Spogli Institute
 * Visiting Fellow, NED (October 2004–February 2005)
 * Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, NED (March–July 2005)
 * Henry Jackson Society
 * International Dimensions of Democratic Breakthroughs
 * Director, IREX
 * Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Advisory Committee
 * Director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
 * Trustee, Freedom House
 * Coordinator, Iran Democracy Project
 * Editorial Board, Journal of Democracy
 * Editorial Board, Demokratizatsiya
 * Jury Member (2007), Council on Foreign Relations: Arthur Ross Book Award
 * Director, Actions for Genuine Democratic Alternatives